Syllieann
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Posts posted by Syllieann
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You would need to buy several sets, making it more expensive than just getting the aar tiles. The color coding on the aar tiles is useful. I would probably diy from scratch before I would buy a different set because then you could copy the color coding and do phonograms instead of just letters. I seriously doubt the cost savings would be worth the time for the majority of homeschoolers.
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Ussr was uninterrupted sustained silent reading, kind of a stupid name IMO since it is obviously uninterrupted if it is sustained.
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The school I attended for grades 2-4 went to the library once per week and the librarian read aloud to us. I vividly remember Bunnicula. I went to a different school for 5th and 6th. My 5th grade teacher read aloud weekly. My 6th grade teacher didn't. I don't think there were any read alouds in junior high. Round robin reading was throughout elementary. I always hated that because I couldn't stand to read at the pace of the slow readers so I would read ahead and then get admonished for not following along. My memories of that are awful and really made me have a lot of negative feelings toward the slower kids and school in general. In self-educating as a homeschool parent I learned that it is actually detrimental to the better readers to be forced to read at the speed of the slower readers.
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:confused1: Can someone please explain me what Ellie means by her below bolded sentence? It's still not clear to me how she applies the same rule for e to "she" and "the", when e in both words have different sounds, and how a child will know which sound to use with this rule alone. Or is she saying we should always pronounce "the" as in "the ice"?
Snip
. :)
Spalding uses a method where you "say it for spelling" so you would pronounce "the" with a long e. Basically you are pronouncing the word phonetically instead of the way we really say it. Therefore, it would be pronounced like "thee," rhyming with "she," and both following the rule about a vowel saying its name in an open syllable. IMO you are really getting into semantics here. I don't personally feel that a word that has to sound different when you say it for spelling can really qualify as phonetically regular. Others clearly feel differently. The argument will make no progress until everyone agrees on what it means to be phonetically regular. I will say that I don't think a failure to define terms deserves the condescension you received.
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My state had no standard before so it is an improvement for us. I like that there is a focus on teaching the scientific method but I am worried that content will be pushed aside. A good scientist uses the method but before they set up an experiment they conduct a thorough literature review to see if they even need to do an experiment. No matter how closely one follows the method, an employer or grant administrator will not be particularly impressed if the experiment doesn't add to the current body of knowledge. Therefore, one must be aware of the current body of knowledge. Schools almost always have kids do experiments that reinvent the wheel, which is a crying shame IMHO. There really should be more emphasis on content in the lower grades and literature review (including peer review process) in the upper grades.
I also feel like there is a bit too much emphasis on environmental issues. I am a climate change skeptic, meaning that I am not convinced that recent climate changes are primarily due to our use of fossil fuels. This topic is still under debate in the scientific community, and our understanding is rapidly changing. I think the whole thing is a bit alarmist, but maybe some good teachers will use the opportunity to discuss statistics and the dangers of extrapolation past the last data point.
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Another important difference between wtm and the general public is that the overwhelming majority of our children are taught phonics, either in learning to read or later in learning to spell. Early readers in the general public usually learn via sight, making them more susceptible to the 4th grade slump.
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It is "enough" and would probably be similar to what you would get with other living books homeschool options. However, IMHO, the best part of bfsu is that it equips the parent to lead the student to discovery via the Socratic method. Using the books to teach the lesson would completely eliminate this aspect.
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Reading bear is really nice...and free.
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Bookshark
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I don't have a specific activity suggestion but the trio of wizard of oz, wicked, and oz: great and powerful might be fun to use as a starting point.
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When I bought the mm1-6 package there was a blurb somewhere about the pre algebra program being offered at a discount of at least 35% for those who had previously purchased the package.
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There are ways you can help the child learn to blend. In the meantime, you can still teach the sounds of the various phonograms, as well as rules, and blend for the child, moving slowly through your program. This alone may allow it to click, but I would work on it directly too. The talking slowly game mentioned is good. I have used a little prop and said, "go put it on the c. A. T, now on your brother's l. E. G.
Start with v/c blends and have them drag the vowels out until they begin making the second sound. Tell the child not to leave any space between the sounds. When you add a beginning consonant, choose sounds that can be similarly dragged out....f, l, m, n, r, s, v.
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For math, definitely right start. For phonics, either all about reading or logic of english foundations, depending on the child's fine motor ability. I like that aar lets them progress regardless of their writing ability. However, if the child is already printing pretty well, logic of english might make more sense.
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This sounds good to me--I especially like the idea of dedicating time to review rather than just flying through that part and assuming she really does remember it. Where do you find the ideas for the demonstrations and activities, though? My copy of the book hasn't arrived yet, so I've only seen the one sample lesson, but it looks like there's only one per lesson in the curriculum. Do you find the others online, or is there a book or two that you've found useful for that?
I use the activities in the book. Some of the follow up things, such as making a book or constructing a map of biomes, would be done in our weekly session. Many of the lessons, especially a little later, contain two parts, so that fits nicely into the once per week framework.
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We spend about 2 weeks per topic. I plan an activity or demonstration once per week with about 30 min in mind. The other days we review with the teachable moments or reading the recommended books. Before beginning a new lesson, I look at the pre req's and we discuss all the questions/objectives associated with those lessons. That might be its own session, depending on where you are in the book. The identification of living things lesson could potentially last forever. We work to identify new species when we encounter them. The number of plant and insect species in a single backyard is astounding.
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That's promising! AAR looks like a lot of fun. How "fine motor skills" dependent is it? A lot of coloring or worksheets? He struggles greatly with writing (we're about to try Abeka Cursive K because of it).
It is not fine motor dependent at all. You can do the cutting for the games. Mine always enjoyed using the glue stick to put game pieces where they go, but the reading practice provided by the games is not at all dependent on cutting/coloring/glueing.
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Weirdly, I've just been reading the opposite, that explicit instruction first is most effective. It could easily be that my textbook is out of date though.
What do your books say is the best way to do it? Hands on immediately following (same day) or a few days to a week later?
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Thank you for posting this. I was just wrestling with the question of whether to do our hands on at the end of each month long history unit (to review and cement) or scatter them throughout the unit. I couldn't find any data to support either method. I'm going to flip everything around as a result of this.
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There are 25 chapters divided (unequally) into 8 units. The chapters are further divided into sections of 1-2 pages. I assume one section per day would be the idea. Each chapter has vocabulary words listed. Then it varies between matching, filling in the blank, yes/no. One chapter, for example has vocab, 6 matching question, then 12 fill in the blank from the word bank questions. Another chapter has vocab, then 5 short answer (similar to the comp questions in sotw ag), then 10 yes/no. Another has short answer questions to be discussed orally followed by matching.
Each unit ends with a unit review that gives the points that should be taken away from the chapter. Unit 3, to give you an idea, has 14 such points of 1-2 sentences each. Then there are a few activity suggestions. Most are to act out, draw, make a booklet, research, etc. Each of the activity suggestions would probably constitute one class period. Then there is a 2 page test. Unit 3 has 10 questions that are choose the right word /phrase, then 2 exercises to put 5 events in chronological order. Then it has 10 short answer and 6 fill in the blank. The last section has 5 short answer questions that are more than simple comprehension. Example: how is the church still following god's command to teach all nations?
I will be using the book with cwh plans for volume 2. Cwh uses it over 3 years. I will just use narration for comprehension. Cwh provides vocab , but I will probably use the ones in the book too. I probably won't do the activities because we favor fewer, but more involved projects. The chapter review section will be handy reference but I don't plan to do anything formal with it. I like the last section of short answer questions on the unit tests. We will probably do those orally. Hth.
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Oh, bummer, if I had seen you post about it I would have told you I got it as a freebie then decided that it wasn't even worth the space it took up on my hard drive....delete. Sorry you were so disappointed. *hugs*.
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I just got mine a few days ago. I'd say 2nd-5th grade. The photos are all black and white with fairly low resolution. There are vocabulary worlds and comprehension questions at the end of each chapter. Some of the units have activity suggestions.
I noticed one instance of using the word "negroes" in an activity suggestion to make a collage with people from all parts of the world as God's children. I think I will reread for any more issues like that.
The unit that covers Noah attempts to map where his sons went.
The coverage of saints and popes is well-integrated, as you would expect in a Catholic book.
Any specific questions?
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I load audiobooks onto an MP3 player for ds. We use audiobooks for winding down before bedtime on days dh and and I watch 24. Ds also sometimes listens to them when my youngers are sleeping and I have chores to do or on day trips in the car.
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We've done many of those on your list. The faves were my fathers's dragon (trilogy), bunnicula, rabbit hill, and charlotte's web. I didn't see Charlie and the chocolate factory. That was a big hit too. We're reading the cabin faced west right now. That is going well. We didn't make it through the borrowers. I think it is our only read aloud reject so far.
The Brainy Bunch book - College by 12 family
in General Education Discussion Board
Posted
I read it a couple months ago. I agree with the things op took from it. I have only two points to add. First, college at 12 is misleading. The classes they took at 12 would be offered only on a remedial basis at many schools. A college prep high school student with honors and ap's would likely skip algebra, calculus, introductory foreign language, and freshman composition. The kids started what I view as college level work more in the 14-15 yo range.
The other point is that the mom got them into college by doing sort of an extreme form of studying to the test. This method really shoves content knowledge to the back burner. I don't think I would feel especially good about giving my children that kind of education in terms of content. Their family seems happy though. Contrary to criticisms I've read from others, the kids weren't sent across the country and living in dorms at 12, nor were they deprived of their childhood playtime.